Escape Reality Does the Trick

Los Angeles TimesBy: F. Kathleen Foley Special to the Times | Theater Review

It’s been said that the entire practice of magic revolves around some dozen or so basic illusions. In Escape Reality at Magicopolis, husband-and-wife team Steve Spill and Bozena Wrobel revisit some of the most familiar standards, with satisfyingly silly results.

The owner-proprietors of Magicopolis, a family-friendly magic venue on Santa Monica’s 4th Street, Spill and Bozena lace their show with ample puns. Indeed, some of their tricks are puns in and of themselves, as in an amusingly messy turn in which the Polish born Bozena, acting out a trick from a magic how-to book, mistakes the word “bandanna” for “banana.”

Bozena Wrobel’s striking appearance effectively contrasts with her over-the-top goofiness, but the real business of the evening lies with Spill, a veteran magician whose expertise ranges from close-up magic to larger-scale illusions, including the requisite effects of levitation and sawing people in half. A wry guy, Spill interacts easily ith the audience, remaining nicely understated when the humor turns a bit fatuous.

A burning rope snaps, dropping dozens of foot-long spikes on Spill. Somehow he survives. If you doubt that a performance can be spine-tingling and funny at the same time, go see this show.